


Sharps and Flats

by BlackCoffeeWhiteViolin



Series: Donuts not Oatmeal [2]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Pre-Canon, Pre-Relationship, no beta we die like ben, though it’s only minor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-09 09:13:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27348700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlackCoffeeWhiteViolin/pseuds/BlackCoffeeWhiteViolin
Summary: Prompt 2 (November 2nd)- Dancing/TrainingIt seemed like Five was great at everything. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Five suddenly wanted to pick up the violin. Vanya always assumed he would be a natural. To Vanya's surprise, he was absolutely terrible at it.
Relationships: Number Five | The Boy & Vanya Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy/Vanya Hargreeves
Series: Donuts not Oatmeal [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1995241
Comments: 4
Kudos: 36
Collections: fiveya week (round 2)





	Sharps and Flats

**Author's Note:**

> I’m actually really excited to post this one. It’s kind of ironic because I’ve always assumed Five would be a prodigy at music. By the way, I’ve played other instruments, just not the violin. So I’m not very educated on how the violin works. Also this one was intended to be platonic too. I swear they aren’t all platonic. The rest of them are intended to be romantic.

June, 2002  
It was that time of day again. After almost every supper, Vanya would dedicate more time to violin practice. Though unlike her normal routine this practice was completely of her own free will. Of course she liked practicing during the day, but she just prefered doing it at this time. The main reason was because Five had the chance to listen to her. She didn’t really get much time to interact with the rest of the academy. They were off training to save the world; She was just studying academics and playing her instrument. Vanya just assumed was Five here to relax after a day of intense training. 

Vanya moved the bow of the violin to the music. As it made contact with the Violin strings, beautiful music came out. She glanced over at Five while she was still playing. Vanya always appreciated that he would come and listen to her. That made at least three people counting him. The others were Pogo and Grace. Five sat on her bed; He was occupied with a book. Vanya smiled as she observed him put complete focus into the book. They didn’t really talk much at this hour, but she still enjoyed his company. Vanya really hoped Five felt the same way. He at least had a pretty content look on his face. Five eagerly read through the book. Every time Five flipped the page it made a loud noise, one of moving paper. It obviously wasn’t that loud, but she could clearly hear it, even over her violin.

They kept at their individual activities for quite awhile. Though it all suddenly came to a halt. “That’s it. I’m officially bored.” Five slammed the hard covered book shut. He proceeded to flop onto Vanya's bed, facing the ceiling. Vanya stopped playing her violin as soon as she heard this. If she could recall correctly he started that book not too long ago. Vanya walked over to her bed and took a seat next to Five. She took a glance at the book he recently finished, it was a physics book. Huh, she was expecting some kind of novel. Though she could see why novels weren’t really Five’s thing. He didn’t seem like the type to like fiction. Vanya picked it up, it was pretty heavy, but she managed to set it on her lap. What was the page count of this book, Vanya flipped the book to the back cover. ‘809 pages?’

“Hey Five?” Vanya called out to him. “Yes Vanya?” He blankly stared up at the ceiling. “When did you start reading this book?” Five took a moment to respond, thinking thoroughly back at the question. “If I can recall correctly, about a week ago.” That wasn’t long at all, especially for something this lengthy. Ben usually takes a week to finish a two-hundred page novel. Reading something that long in such a limited time period felt near impossible. Vanya could hardly believe it, but knowing Five it wasn’t impossible. “So what are you going to do now?” Vanya decided to mimic Five and also lay on her bed, facing the ceiling. “I honestly have no idea.” That somewhat made sense in Vanya’s eyes. It seemed like Five was always doing something. He wasn’t one to just lounge around. 

“You can find another book to read?” Vanya suggested an idea, that’s what he always did when he listened to her. Five shook his head “I don’t want to read about physics, thermodynamics, mathematics, or anything like that at the moment.” That was odd. Since when was Five sick of that stuff? She couldn’t blame him, those things seemed difficult for her to understand. Vanya could hardly fathom that Five could spend so much time digging into topics like that. “Maybe you can see the others?” Vanya suggested. Five was always spending his free time listening to Vanya or doing some other busy work. She felt like she was taking away from his bonding time with the others. Five is intelligent, skilled at combat, sharp-witted, and maybe too brutally honest, but he was extremely talented. Vanya was just ordinary. Why did he even bother to spend time with her anyways? 

Five could’ve been using this time to be with everyone else. The people who were actually important. That was definitely a better option. “Don’t you think I lose enough brain cells being around them all day?” Somehow Vanya was and wasn’t expecting him to say that. Oh, right. He did train and do missions with them for every other part of the day. Maybe he just grew weary of seeing them so often. That had to be it. It wasn’t that Five disliked them, of course he didn’t. Though it might seem that way on surface level. Five truly loved them. He just had a different way of showing it. Vanya was out of ideas, she didn’t know what else to suggest. 

Well, she strongly doubted he would read a novel. So, Vanya admitted defeat. “I’m sorry Five but.. I really can’t help you.” She sat back up and hopped off her bed. Vanya held her violin again. She proceeded to play a graceful melody, Five sat up and observed her. A few minutes went by, Vanya kept playing while Five starred in silence. Eventually Vanya finished the song she was playing. Before she could start another piece Five spoke “Huh, I’ve never really focused on your playing. You’re actually pretty good at it.” She wasn’t expecting someone to say that about her violin skills. Reginald would tell her she was below average. Pogo and Grace would just tell her she did a good job, then go on with their day. That was probably the nicest thing anyone has said about her playing. Five also wasn’t the type for false flattery, so that meant he was being genuine. 

Vanya slightly smiled at the compliment, “Thanks Five..” Suddenly a huge grin went across Five’s face. “I have an idea. Why don’t I learn violin? I can pick it up in no time.” Vanya always wanted to share her passion with someone else. It made sense that it would be Five. Though she also had a deep anxiety within her. Five is super smart, and also a quick learner. What if he picks up the violin and is a natural? He would make her look like an amateur. Then everyone would come and listen to Five’s violin skills instead of hers, because he’s special. So, everyone would care. But she couldn’t find it in herself to deny Five’s request. He looked so excited to learn violin. “Okay, I’ll let you play-.” 

Before Vanya could finish her sentence Five teleported out of her room. She could hear his footsteps echo through the hallway. “Five, where are you going?” She peeked her head outside of her room. “I’m going to get some stuff to study!” Five shouted from the other end of the hallway. That’s not really how it worked. There wasn’t much to study. Most of it was just playing, except for music theory. Vanya only knew the basics of music theory. She rarely thought about it while playing. Though it seems Five is already committed. Knowing Five’s stubborn nature, it was impossible to change his mind. A while later, Vanya went to check on him. 

Five rested on his bed. He was reading a book on music theory. Right next to him was a pile of other books on the same topic. Vanya wasn’t even aware the Academy had so many books on music. “This is some pretty neat stuff Vanya. Music theory is more interesting than I originally thought.” Five spoke to Vanya without looking up from the book he was invested in. “I guess it is.” Vanya never really dug too deep into the topic. Music theory was something composers needed to know. It wasn’t necessary she learned much outside the basics. It was a complex topic to say the least. There were different rules for about every style of music. Along with so many keys and rhythms. It didn’t help that each instrument was different in the way it handled these things. Adding onto that, music could be written in so many key signatures, tempos, and melodies. The possibilities were infinite. Vanya could clearly see why something like this would peak Five’s interest. 

Vanya really wanted to stay with Five, but it just felt odd being here. Vanya took her leave and went back to practicing, this time alone. The following day Vanya rarely talked to Five. Like always, he was busy with training. When that was all finished Five was back in his room studying music theory again. Vanya could’ve visited him, but she felt like she would just take away from his focus. That day she practiced violin in her room. This time she had no one to listen to her. The next day she expected as much, so far she was right. Vanya practiced her violin in solitude. After finishing the song she was working on she released a heavy sigh. No one wanted to hear her play anyways.

Suddenly she heard clapping, Vanya turned over to see Five sitting on her bed. “How long have you been here?” Vanya was too focused on the music that she didn’t even notice him in her room. “That’s irrelevant to the topic at hand. I just wanted to observe your movements, for reference.” Vanya looked down. She assumed he wanted to listen to her, like he did before. Five immediately noticed Vanya’s behavior. “Why don’t you play one more song? I just want to listen to you. After that, I can start.” Vanya nodded and played another song. This time he listened to her thoroughly, but not with the purpose of his personal gain. After Vanya finished she lifted the bow from her violin. She looked over to see Five just smiling, nothing else. It wasn’t a grin, but it was genuine in Vanya’s eyes. 

“So do you want to play now?” Vanya held her violin at her side. Five stood still for just a moment then slightly twitched, it was like he was in a trace. “Sorry, I got distracted. Watching you play is entertaining.” They both kind of stood in silence after he said that. Both were not sure of how to respond. They just looked in another direction avoiding eye contact. “Just give me the violin now.” Five broke the silence. He couldn’t take it anymore. He just wanted to jump into playing right away. “Yeah, that’s a good idea.” Vanya quietly muttered. Five walked over to Vanya and reached out his hand. To say Vanya was hesitant to give the violin to him was an understatement. This was her passion, her prized possession, and the only thing her so called father ever gifted her. 

It wasn’t anything against Five, but the violin just meant a lot to her. She didn’t want to give it away recklessly. What if it ended up damaged? Vanya then remembered how eager Five was to play, and how many hours he spent studying music theory. How could she deny him now? Vanya slowly handed Five the violin. He grabbed both the violin and bow. Vanya felt like she was missing a part of her after he took it. Five was definitely ready to start. He wore a grin as he held up the violin in playing position. “What are you doing?” Vanya tilted her head. “I'm obviously holding the violin, Vanya. What do you think I’m doing?” Vanya gave Five a concerned smile. “You’re holding it in reverse.. you have to hold the bow in your right hand, not your left.” Vanya went over to Five and flipped the violin so his left hand was on the neck of the violin. 

“Wouldn’t it make more sense to have my more dominant hand hold the stick?” Oh, she didn’t know. Five was left handed. “I’m sorry Five, but it would be more difficult to play it that way. The strings would be reversed.” Five sighed and flipped the violin to the regular position. “Okay, now what?” Five attempted to hold the violin properly. Vanya helped him adjust so his chin and shoulder were in the proper position. Then Vanya ran over to her music book collection. She found a beginner’s book from when she was younger and put it on the music stand. Vanya flipped open to the song Hot crossed buns in D string. 

“Do you think you can do this Five, or do you need my help?” Vanya wasn’t sure how much he knew. “I got this. It looks easy.” Five smirked. It was time for him to finally start. He put his bow to the strings to hit the first note. It was a simple F#. What Vanya didn’t expect was for Five to butcher the note so horribly. The result made her wince with a cringing expression. He played the note correctly, but he was super sharp. Maybe something was wrong with the violin? “Here, give it to me Five.” He nodded handing the violin to Vanya. She pulled out a tuner and set it on the stand. Vanya played a note. She was perfectly in pitch. It was probably the way he held the bow. 

Bowing is very important to playing a violin. If he messed that up it would limit his ability to play. Five was holding it underhanded. How did he even manage to do that? “Five, the thumb goes below the stick, not above it. Set it in between the stick and string. Then the other fingers go above it. Make sure to slightly angle your hand.” Five did as she said, adjusting the position of his right hand. Hopefully that will fix it. “Are you ready to try again?” Vanya asked him. “Yes, I am.” Five made another attempt. He played the note. It sounded off pitch, but not as bad as earlier. Though this time he played the wrong note on the wrong string. This song was all in D string. Why was he playing in E string? Also F# was more towards the middle of the fingerboard. He was playing a B which was towards the bottom on the fingerboard. It would be more logical if he played a note in the same position but on a different string, but this was something else.

It seemed whenever Vanya helped Five fix a mistake a new one suddenly popped up. They were even mistakes he was making earlier. He would correct it then suddenly incorrect it. Five was just repeating his mistakes over and over again. Who knows how long they’ve been at this. Vanya suggested that take a break, but Five refused. The task even made Vanya slightly aggravated, and she wasn’t one to get easily upset. Five was far more frustrated than her. Eventually he finished the first song, but it was far less satisfactory than what Five wanted. “Why can’t I do it right!” Playing violin was far more difficult than it looked. Five assumed he could easily conquer it, but it proved more difficult than he assumed. “That’s it… I’m done.” 

He looked towards the ground in shame. Five handed Vanya her violin back. Before she could say anything Five teleported away. “Five wait..” Vanya stepped outside her room. He wasn’t in sight. She wandered down the hallway, still no sign of him. “Five?” Vanya looked inside his room. He wasn’t there. She eventually found in him the attic, a place he wouldn’t go to often. “Five…” she walked over and took a seat next to him. “I'm sorry Five, this is all my fault. I’m the one bringing you down.” She immediately took the blame. Five shook his head. “No Vanya, it wasn’t you. I am not —good at violin.” Five struggled to finish the sentence. Vanya was profound, he never admitted to failure. Not to Reginald, and definitely not to the others. Then why would he admit it to her? “It was a waste of time. We will both be better off if I give it up.” He seemed more disappointed than sad. Five spent so many hours learning about music. He seemed so eager to learn. Yet, in the end, it was all for nothing. “You’re weren’t wasting my time. Five I know you. You never give up. Even when something seems impossible you find a way.” Five wrapped his arms around his legs and put his head down. 

“You don’t understand Vanya. This is different. When you say I never give up, it’s things that I’m actually good at. I am... not good at violin, not even close.” He was kind of right. The violin definitely wasn’t his forte. She never saw someone make so many mistakes. “You don’t have to be good at everything Five.” Vanya sighed and mimicked Five’s position. He wouldn’t ever want to hear that statement. The thing is, she really didn’t know what to truly say. There was nothing she could tell Five to comfort him. It’s not that she didn’t understand how he felt. Of course she did, probably better than anyone else here. It seemed like everyone else she knew was gifted and talented. While she was just Vanya. The only thing she really had was her violin. That wasn’t something any of them would understand, especially Five. 

“How about we get out of this place and try again?” That was the best solution she could come up with. “You still want to teach me? After all that?” Five lifted his head up. “Of course I do. You might be bad at playing, but I’m sure you will improve. I'll be there to help this time.” She wasn’t giving up on him, even if he gave up himself. Five nodded with a slight smile. “Thanks Vanya.” After that they two of them just sat there for a while. “You know Vanya, you shouldn’t care what the old man says. You are special. Just not in the traditional sense.” Vanya tilted her head, “What do you mean?” No one ever tells her she’s anything beyond ordinary. “Playing the violin takes talent. It’s not something anyone can easily do, including me, and probably not anyone else here.” 

Wow, she wasn’t expecting that, especially from Five. He definitely wasn’t the sentimental type, but that was actually heartfelt. “Thanks Five.” She leaned over and gave him a hug, “You know, you’re far more talented than me. All of you are. You guys get to have these extraordinary powers. While I have nothing.” Five hugged her back in response. “Jeez Vanya, you don't need to be so hard on yourself all the time. You aren’t worthless. Just because you don’t have powers doesn’t make you weak. Literally 99.999% of the population is normal too. But I think you’re better than most of them. Trust me, I’ve saved a fair share of people who are way more pathetic than you’ll ever be. You aren’t anywhere close.” That wasn’t something Vanya thought would be said about her. She found it strange, but at the same time somewhat reassuring.

Five let go from the hug and stood up. He held out his hand to help Vanya up.“We shouldn’t dwell here much longer. There’s no use in it. But Vanya, you should never stop playing the violin.” The two of them headed back to their rooms. As Five said that, Vanya tilted her head. “Really? Why do you think that?” Five crossed his arms and gave her a slight smile “It’s something you love doing. Plus if you give it up I can’t listen to you anymore.” Vanya looked over at him and smiled “I don’t plan on stopping anytime soon. It makes me glad to know at least one person will listen to me no matter what.” Tomorrow would be a new day. Vanya would teach Five violin, but this time she would help him. They would do it together.


End file.
